The Meaning of One Word
by DuchessRaven
Summary: Alucard and Integra discuss the meaning of a certain word. AxI One shot


AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wrote this on a whim. If you're wondering after you read: I'm not that religious, and I never read the bible. I copied stuff out of Wikipedia and thought they sounded like stuff Integra would say.

Enjoy & Review!

THE MEANING OF ONE WORD

_…and the prince said to the princess, "I love you."_

Integra closed the book and looked at the cover. It was a hard-cover children's book, and a very childish one at that. The story was stereotypical, prince fights monster, prince saves princess. It was the kind of tale a woman of today no longer told her children, and feminists denounced as a backward piece of literature that depicted women as helpless and in need of a man's aid. The cover showed a prince on his knees, holding a princess's hand, his white horse looking on from the side.

It wasn't exactly the most enlightening or even interesting piece of literature, and yet Integra had found it hard to dispose of over the years. As the books on her shelves changed with the times, this one somehow stayed.

"Drowning in memories?"

She smirked as a familiar form made itself known in the library. Peace and quiet were rather hard to come by these days. She started to put the book back onto the shelf, but a gloved hand reached over her shoulder and plucked it from her hands. She turned around.

"Do you mind?"

"I am only curious, master." Alucard opened the book and cringed a bit at the pictures. "I would never have pegged you to be interested in something like this."

"My mother gave me this book," Integra snapped, taking the book from him and dusting off the cover. He gazed at her curiously as she put it back onto the shelf. "Something like what?"

"Something so… sentimental, I suppose."

"You mean sappy."

"Your words."

"Have you lost all of your sentimentality with age, Alucard?" Night had long fallen outside. Integra drew the curtains aside and sat on the broad windowsill. The library was quiet and empty. "Do you find no value in things that appeal to emotions at all?"

The vampire joined her on the windowsill and removed his hat. "Of course not," he said, brushing his dark locks out of his eyes. "I'm sure it is a great thing that you find a connection to your mother through that book. I merely find stories like this to be pointless. They dwell on trivial, nonexistent things."

"Such as?"

"Prince Charming, Princess Divine, happily ever after, love, unicorns…"

"Excuse me?"

"While I do concede that the existence of unicorns is up to debate…"

"Not that." She eyed him curiously. "Are you saying you don't believe in the existence of love?"

Alucard chuckled darkly. "It's rather hard to find faith in something that so lacks shape, form, and any provable substance. Some even call it an abstraction, dating the "invention" to courtly Europe during or after the Middle Ages."

"That is a theory," Integra countered. "There are some people that maintain love really exists, and is undefinable, being essentially spiritual or metaphysical in nature."

"Which is also a theory. Something whose definition comes purely from theory cannot hold much water."

Integra tapped her chin thoughtfully "Are you saying you don't believe in love at all even as a concept?" she asked. It was getting late and having a philosophical discussion with the resident vampire had not been on her to-do list, but something about Alucard's attitude was intriguing. "Have you not once loved? As a king, you were once married, and there's Mina Harker…"

He stopped her with a raised hand. "First of all, marriage have little to do with love, especially in that day and age, when most marriages were either arranged or for social benefits and nothing more. As far as Mina goes," he paused in thought. "I suppose if you wish to argue the existence of love by proof of experience, I suppose she is close. But in retrospect, I don't know if I'd call it love by textbook definition. Lust is closer. Desire, maybe. Love is a very ambiguous term."

"Then how do you define it?"

"I see it as the quantification of something mammalian, much like hunger or thirst. Humans merely chose to romanticize it by giving it name and a few good stories."

"Most of history's greatest stories revolve around love."

"I think you mean murder."

"Murder for love."

"Awfully big waste of life for something so trivial."

Integra scowled, but quickly hid it. She didn't want to give the vampire the pleasure of seeing her annoyed. "Fine," she said. "What of the psychological aspect of it? Hunger and thirst come naturally and is essential for survival. Love is much more complicated. Psychologists have said that includes three components: intimacy, commitment, passion…"

"Perhaps," said Alucard. "But have you noticed that each of those things can exist on its own? Two people can be intimate and uncommitted nor passionate, or committed without intimacy or passion, or share passion without intimacy or commitment. By creating an umbrella called love, humans are just finding a way to give an artificial depth to their relationships."

Integra crossed her arms. "Age has made your pessimistic."

Alucard sneered and matched her posture. "No, it has made me realistic. But do tell me, master: what is it that you make of love?"

She had been unprepared for this question. Integra thought long and hard as her servant waited patiently. "The Bible speaks of love as a set of attitudes and actions that are far broader than the concept of love as an emotional attachment," she said after a long moment. "Love is seen as a set of behaviors that humankind is encouraged to act out. One is encouraged not just to love one's partner, or even one's friends but also to love one's enemies. The Bible describes this type of active love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Alucard chuckled. "How lovely," he said. "But it still does not describe what it is in itself. It only speaks of it in terms of other things. Patience, kindness, modesty… none of these things are love itself."

"Not all things in life are definite and touchable."

"And thus not all those things can be proven to exist."

"Even if that's true," Integra said firmly, "that doesn't change the fact that love plays a major part in this world and in the lives of humans. Common consensus is that nothing is stronger than the power of love. As it says in the Song of Songs:

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealously unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned."

"Humans derive strength from the strangest places."

"We find strength in loving each other and loving God. That is the difference between us and animals."

"But you still haven't answered my question, master." Alucard bent forward and looked Integra straight in the eyes. "What is it that _you_ make of love?"

Integra opened her mouth, but no words came out. As she sat there in the moonlight, she realized that she had no answer to that question. No good one, at least. There was a smug look on the vampire's face that she longed to wipe off with her fist.

"Alright," she said slowly. "The best definition I can think of right now is a combination of attraction, attachment, respect…" she paused, hesitating. "And lust." There was a spark of surprise in Alucard's eyes, but he said nothing. "It's physical and emotional attraction, along with the willingness to sacrifice one's self for another."

"You are saying to have those qualities means to have love for another?"

Integra nodded. "I am." She stood from the windowsill. "I'm sure you have something sarcastic to say to that, but I don't plan to stick around to listen to it tonight. I must be heading to bed."

With that, she straightened her suit and headed out of the library. That was more effort than she wished to expend on philosophy in one night.

"I love you."

Her hand stopped on the library door. She spun around and saw the vampire still sitting on the windowsill. His expression hasn't changed. There was still smugness on his face and mischief in his eyes.

He was half-smirking at her, but…

She returned the smirk, curling the corner of her lips playfully. "I love you, too."


End file.
